Dozens of civilians held hostage by Myanmar junta forces in Budalin Township

Regime forces have taken dozens of local people hostage and are using them as human shields as they rampage through Sagaing Region’s Budalin Township, according to resistance sources. A column of around 100 troops based in Monywa, about 20 miles to the south, has been conducting raids in the township since October 11, following a resistance attack that wiped out another column in late September. According to the National Unity Government’s Ministry of Human Rights, the column has murdered at least 24 civilians, including children and the elderly, since the start of its operations in Budalin. In one incident that took place on October 17, the junta troops reportedly killed six men in Si Par, a village located about four miles north of the town of Budalin, and dismembered three of them, hanging parts of their bodies on fences. At around the same time, the column started rounding up civilians living in villages north of Budalin for use as human shields, a member of a local resistance group told Myanmar Now. “They’ve released some of the very old hostages who were unable to walk, but they still have many others that they take with them wherever they go,” said the resistance fighter, adding that the column is currently holding around 50 civilians. Since Monday, the column has been carrying out raids on villages east of Budalin, according to another resistance force member. “First they searched every house in Pepyittaw, taking whatever they wanted, and then they moved on to Hnawyin. After that, they entered Inn Te, where they have been burning down houses since yesterday,” he said on Wednesday. At the time of reporting, the column was still in Inn Te, a village about eight miles east of Budalin. There were no confirmed figures available on the number of houses destroyed in the latest raids. According to Budalin’s anti-junta civilian administration, nearly 400 homes were destroyed in the township in the first two weeks of the column’s operations. Resistance forces control most of Budalin Township outside of its administrative centre and the village of Ku Taw, about 14 miles northwest of the town of Budalin. Over the past month, thousands of local people have been forced to flee their homes, according to volunteers assisting the displaced.

Dozens of civilians held hostage by Myanmar junta forces in Budalin Township

The hostages are being used as human shields by soldiers who have killed at least 24 civilians in the township since October 11

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